教育哲学是对教育问题的哲学思考，用哲学的方法和语言来研究教育问题。研究的对象包括教育的本质、目的、学习的历程、知识的架构、人类的课题、权威的问题、教育和社会之间的关系、教育的方针等等。

教育哲学认为人民素养和文化的传承、演变大多取决于教育，而教育孩子及公民都是很大的挑战，因为教育的过程不仅是一些班级经营方法，还涉及伦理学、政治学、心理学、美学和经济学等不同面向。

自从让-雅克·卢梭开始，教育哲学开始跟发展心理学发生联系。卢梭在《爱弥儿》一书中，认为人有与生俱来的学习能力，教育的过程应该是以孩子为中心，从旁协助他对世界的主动探索，而不是由成人来主导一切。

Philosophy of education can refer to either the academic field of applied philosophy or to one of any educational philosophies that promote a specific type or vision of education, and/or which examine the definition, goals and meaning of education.

As an academic field, philosophy of education is "the philosophical study of education and its problems...its central subject matter is education, and its methods are those of philosophy". "The philosophy of education may be either the philosophy of the process of education or the philosophy of the discipline of education. That is, it may be part of the discipline in the sense of being concerned with the aims, forms, methods, or results of the process of educating or being educated; or it may be metadisciplinary in the sense of being concerned with the concepts, aims, and methods of the discipline." As such, it is both part of the field of education and a field of applied philosophy, drawing from fields of metaphysics, epistemology, axiology and the philosophical approaches (speculative, prescriptive, and/or analytic) to address questions in and about pedagogy, education policy, and curriculum, as well as the process of learning, to name a few. For example, it might study what constitutes upbringing and education, the values and norms revealed through upbringing and educational practices, the limits and legitimization of education as an academic discipline, and the relation between educational theory and practice.